Hill Named Athlete of the Week

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Women’s soccer player Amanda Hill has been named West Virginia University’s Athlete of the Week for her effort in leading the Mountaineers to the school’s first Big 12 Conference title.

The Washington, Pa., native notched her second career goal in the 73rd minute in a 2-0 win over visiting Oklahoma. The game-winner was the first of Hill’s career, a true freshman.

Hill, a holding midfielder, also helped the defense pick up its seventh shutout of the year, and limit the Sooners to five shots on the night – eight below their season average. OU entered the contest having been held scoreless only four times this season.

West Virginia extended its unbeaten streak to 12 matches in securing the top seed in the upcoming Big 12 Soccer Championship.

Women's Soccer- This Week in Women’s SoccerThe Mountaineers close out the regular season with a road trip to Texas on Friday, Oct. 26 ... kickoff at Mike A. Myers Stadium is slated for 8:30 p.m. EDT and will be televised on the Longhorn Network.

- Last Week in Women’s SoccerDespite heavy rain and chilly temperatures, the No. 19 West Virginia scored a pair of second-half goals to defeat visiting Oklahoma, 2-0, on Oct. 18 ... with no score after 45 minutes, the Mountaineer offense pressured the Sooners from the opening whistle of the second half ... WVU outshot Oklahoma 12-2 in the period, scoring on goals from midfielder Amanda Hill and forward Kate Schwindel ... goalkeeper Sara Keane was very good in net, finishing with four saves in picking up her seventh clean sheet of the season ... the Mountaineer defense eliminated several scoring tries, allowing only five shots on the night … OU entered the contest having been held scoreless only four times this season … Schwindel took a game-best six shots as WVU outshot OU 22-5 on the night.

- Notes & QuotesWomen’s soccer won the school’s first Big 12 Conference title, capturing the regular season crown Friday evening ... the Big 12 title marks the sixth regular season championship for coach Nikki Izzo-Brown and the women’s soccer program ... the Mountaineers entered the day with 19 points with one match remaining at Texas, who fell at Baylor, 2-1 in double overtime, to secure a point total that cannot be equaled ... by clinching the regular season championship, West Virginia has assured itself of the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 Soccer Championship in San Antonio, Texas ... women’s soccer is 25-1-1 in its last 27 regular season conference matches ... the Mountaineers are riding a 12-match unbeaten streak ... WVU has outscored its opponents 27-9 over the last 11 games ... West Virginia has lost only one match since knocking off top-ranked Stanford on Aug. 26 ... for the third-straight season, West Virginia finishes unbeaten at home in regular season conference play ... WVU hasn’t lost a home conference game since Oct. 2, 2009, an overtime loss to eighth-ranked Notre Dame.

Men's Soccer- This Week in Men’s SoccerThe WVU men’s soccer team will continue its Mid-American Conference road swing, with a match at Northern Illinois on Saturday, Oct. 27, at 2 p.m.

- Last Week in Men’s SoccerThe WVU men’s soccer team fell on the road to No. 2 Akron, 2-1, on Saturday evening at First Energy Stadium in MAC action.

- Notes & QuotesThe Mountaineers held most of the possession against the Zips, who are now unbeaten in their last 43 conference matches ... Akron’s goals occurred in the first five minutes of each half, while freshman Majed Osman netted WVU’s lone goal in the 52nd mind … the goal ended Akron’s shutout streak of 713 minutes that stretched over nine matches ... it also was the first goal the Zips had allowed in conference play and the first goal allowed at home this season.

Volleyball- This Week in VolleyballThe West Virginia University volleyball team begins the second half of Big 12 Conference play on Wednesday, Oct. 24, when the team welcomes the Kansas State Wildcats ... the match is slated to begin at 6:30 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum ... the Mountaineers also hit the road this week to take on Texas Tech and No. 21 Kansas ... WVU will first take on the Red Raiders at 7 p.m., on Saturday, Oct. 27, in Lubbock, Texas before traveling to Lawrence, Kan., to battle the Jayhawks at 7:30 p.m., on Monday, Oct. 29.

- Last Week in VolleyballWVU wrapped up the first half of Big 12 Conference play by traveling to Waco, Texas, to take on Baylor on Saturday, Oct. 20 ... the Bears swept the Mountaineers 3-0.

- Notes & QuotesThe match against the Wildcats has been designated the annual Dig Pink game ... all fans are encouraged to wear pink in support of breast cancer awareness ... against Baylor, freshman outside hitter Hannah Sackett led the Mountaineers in kills for the sixth time this season with 13 ... the Somers, Mont., native posted nine digs and was one shy of recording her first double-double ... Sackett leads the team with 216 kills and 2.70 kills per set ... Sackett’s 26 service aces are the second most on the team and her 0.32 service aces per set is good for No. 6 in the Big 12 ... junior outside hitter Arielle Allen led the defensive effort against the Bears with 13 digs ... this was the fifth time this season that Allen has recorded double-digit digs ... junior defensive specialist Liz Gulick recorded a season- and career-high four service aces ... Gulick’s four service aces helped lead the team to tie its four-set season-high of eight service aces ... freshman outside hitter Nikki Attea is only six kills away from reaching the 200 kill mark this season ... Attea currently averages 2.34 kills per set and leads the Mountaineers in conference play with 70 kills.

Cross Country- This Week in Cross CountryThe West Virginia University cross country team will travel to its first-ever Big 12 Championship on Saturday, Oct. 27, in Austin, Texas ... the race is set to begin at 11 a.m., at the Jimmy Clay Golf Course.

- Last Week in Cross CountryThe Mountaineers were idle.

- Notes & QuotesLast time out, WVU ran in its second consecutive meet in Louisville, Ky., at the E.P. ‘Tom’ Sawyer State Park on Oct. 13 ... the first time the team traveled there this season, the Mountaineers had a first-place finish in the Blue Race at the Greater Louisville Cross Country Classic on Sept. 28 ... at Pre-Nationals, junior Sarah Martinelli crossed the line first for WVU for the first time this season ... Martinelli had an 11th-place finish and a 6k personal-best time of 21:50.2 ... junior Jordan Hamric finished in the top 20 for the third time this season with a 19th place finish ... Hamric also had a personal-best 6k time of 21:57 ... in her first season of racing, sophomore Kelly Williams contributed big for WVU by being the third runner to score for the Mountaineers ... Williams had a 28th-place finish and a 6k time of 22:10.2 ... seniors Aubrey Moskal and Hallie Portner rounded out the top-five runners for the Mountaineers by finishing in 36th and 63rd place, respectively … freshmen Megan Yuan and Sydney Scott, junior Chelsea Jarvis and sophomore Allison Pettit also competed for WVU at the race.

- Last Week in Women’s TennisThe Mountaineers competed at the ITA Atlantic Regionals held in Blacksburg, Va.

- Notes & QuotesWith its completion of the ITA Atlantic Regionals, WVU finished its 2012 fall season … in total, the Mountaineers completed the season with 51 total wins and three tournament placements … at the Wake Forest Invitational, senior Emily Mathis and freshman Hailey Barrett placed third, while sophomore Ikttesh Chahal took fifth … Mathis led the Mountaineers in overall wins with 12, while freshman Vivian Tsui was second with 10 overall wins … freshman Hailey Barrett turned in an impressive performance in her first collegiate action, as she had nine overall victories … Mathis also had a team-high seven singles wins during the fall.

“The theme of this tournament overall is that we put ourselves in a position to win almost every match. This is a huge improvement from a year ago. We now have a team that knows it can play with the best teams. We will go home and use this to prepare for the spring season, where we will be meeting a lot these teams again.” – coach Tina Samara.

Rowing- This Week in RowingWVU will travel to Philadelphia, Pa., to compete at the Head of the Schuylkill regatta on Saturday, October 27.

- Last Week in RowingThe Mountaineers were idle this past week.

- Notes & QuotesAt this regatta last year, West Virginia had three women’s open 4+ crews place within the top 20, before racing was canceled due to inclement weather ... the ‘A’ crew of Hilary Meale, Shannon Gribbons, Courtney Schrand, Rachelle Purych and coxswain Morgan Leach crossed the finish line of the 2.5-mile course in 15:51.76 for a fifth-place finish ... the ‘C’ crew of Danika Rencken, Jessica Hurlbert, Christina Mehrtens, Karen Verwey and coxswain Ellen Shular finished the race in 16:43.34 to place 18th overall, while the ‘B’ crew of Brittany Doss, Amanda Hirsch, Kelly Kramer, Mollie Rosenand coxswain Sarah Cartwright rounded out the top 20, finishing in 16:58.34 ... WVU also had two crews slated to compete in the women’s championship 8+ event that was scheduled for the afternoon, but they were unable to race due to the adverse weather conditions.

Rifle- This Week in RifleWest Virginia is idle this week.

- Last Week in RifleThe No. 1-ranked West Virginia University rifle team shot a school- and NCAA-best team score of 4717 in its win over No. 10 Memphis (4634), on Tuesday, at the WVU rifle range ... WVU defeated the Tigers (0-4, 0-3 GARC) in its home opener, winning smallbore, 2348-2291, and air rifle, 2369-2343 ... Zublasing finished first with a combined score of 1184, while Spurgeon placed second with a score of 1181 ... Ciotola finished third with a mark of 1178.

- Notes & QuotesFive Mountaineers combined for the team scores: senior Petra Zublasing, junior Daniel Sojka, sophomores Taylor Ciotola and Thomas Kyanko,and freshman Garrett Spurgeon ... Spurgeon shot a personal-best 589 (200 prone, 191 standing, 198 kneeling) smallbore for the discipline win ... his prone score also is a school record ... Zublasing and Ciotola tied for second place in smallbore with scores of 587; the mark is a personal best for Ciotola, and he also shot a school-record 200 prone ... Kyanko finished fifth with a 585, while Sojka shot a personal-best 583 and placed sixth ... Zublasing finished first in air rifle for the third-straight match with a season-best 597 (99-99-100-99-100-100) score ... Spurgeon shot his second personal-best score of the day and finished in second place in air rifle with a 592 mark, while Ciotola and Kiisk, also a sophomore, tied for third with 591 scores ... Kyanko and Hermsmeier tied for fifth place with 589s ... Mountaineer junior Chance Covershot a personal-best 586 and tied for seventh place ... Tuesday’s win improves the Mountaineer’s record against the tigers to 7-2.

Swimming & Diving- This Week in Swimming & DivingThe Mountaineers are in action on Saturday, Oct. 27, when they travel to Villanova for a dual meet ... the women also will be taking on James Madison in double-dual action ... the meet will begin at 9:30 a.m.

- Last Week in Swimming & DivingThe women’s team fell 146-97, while the men’s team fell by a score of 174-69 on Friday evening at the WVU Natatorium against Penn State.

- Notes & QuotesSenior Rachael Burnett led the women with wins in 100 free (51.67), 200 free (1:49.68) and 500 free (4:53.68), while sophomore Julian Vialette had a win in the 50 free (21.10) for the men’s squad.